GFAA Team bios

More than 30 dedicated professionals with extensive experience in art, academia, technology and business are committed to the future of the Global Fine Art Awards program and its mission.

We represent a truly global perspective, with nationalities from 18 countries and 4 continents.

Leadership

Judy Holm, GFAA President and CEO, Founder of Aspirations PR, Art Concierge, MBA from l’Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Paris (ESCP), Bachelor of Arts in Economics and French Literature and Philosophy from UC Berkeley

In addition to lifelong education in art history and passion for art, Judy Holm has been immersed in the world of art fairs, biennials, galleries and museums for decades.

Ms. Holm’s background includes twenty-five years of experience in arts and culture, direction of more than 60 art installations and 600 cultural events throughout the United States and Europe. She has classical training and education in art, opera, symphony, ballet, literature and film.

Recent highlights include developing strategic partnerships in Art Basel (Switzerland) for a large media client, and corporate and private client events during Art Basel Miami Beach for the past seven years including the Biltmore Hotel. She developed an “Art Concierge” business in Venice, Italy for the Biennale 2011, and continues to consult with private and corporate art clients internationally. She served as Vice-Chair for the Miami Beach Chamber’s Arts and Culture Council from 2011 to 2014, and for three years wrote a bi-weekly column “Arts and Culture (PRE)View – (RE)View.

A public relations and social media professional, she has an international network and media reach of over 1,000 targeted journalists and influencers in mainstream news, cultural publications and social media.

A native of San Francisco, currently residing in the Hamptons, she has also worked in Miami, Paris, Venice and New York. Ms. Holm received bachelor’s degrees with honors in Economics and French Literature from U.C. Berkeley, and an MBA from l’Ecole Superieure de Commerce de Paris (ESCP).

He is also president of Projects in 19th-century Art, Inc., the firm he established to pursue a range of research, writing, and curating opportunities.

Trippi holds a MA from New York University in Visual Arts Administration, as well as a MA in Art History from the Courtauld Institute of Art, London.

As director of New York’s Dahesh Museum of Art, Trippi guided its renovation of the former IBM Gallery and presentation of nine exhibitions of 19th-century European art. In 2002, Phaidon Press published Trippi’s 250-page monograph J W Waterhouse, which reassesses the Victorian painter and Royal Academician best known for his Lady of Shalott at Tate Britain. Trippi went on to guest-curate the Waterhouse retrospective that appeared at the Groninger Museum in the Netherlands, London’s Royal Academy of Arts, and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.

He is now co-curating a touring exhibition about the Victorian painter Lawrence Alma-Tadema, to open in 2016 at the Fries Museum, in the artist’s Dutch native city, Leeuwarden. In 2013, Trippi completed a two-year term as president of the nonprofit organization Historians of British Art, and then became president of the Association of Historians of Nineteenth-Century Art.

Dean Phelus, GFAA Judge

Dean Phelus is the Senior Director of Leadership Programs at the American Alliance of Museums (AAM). In this capacity he oversees a portfolio of programs and activities globally that forge U.S. and international museum partnerships that foster understanding on museum excellence, skills development, and the invaluable contribution museums make to society.

Prior to this position, he served for over a decade as director of the AAM annual meeting and professional development where he provided direction and oversight of the AAM annual meeting–the largest museum convening in the world, attracting 5,000-6,000 museum professionals from over 50 countries, and offering multilingual educational content in Arabic, Mandarin, Spanish—and other face-to-face and virtual professional development programs to strengthen core competencies in museum practice.

In his tenure he has had extensive exposure to numerous exhibitions in the US and around the world which have informed his critical thinking on exhibition development and design strategies and techniques to enhance the visitor experience.

He received a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s degree in public administration from the American University in Washington, DC.

Dr. James M. Bradburne, GFAA Judge

Dr. James M. Bradburne is an Anglo-Canadian architect, designer and museologist, and has designed world expo pavilions, science parks and international art exhibitions.

He was educated in Canada and in England, graduating in architecture at the Architectural Association and receiving his doctorate in museology from the University of Amsterdam.

Over the past thirty years he has produced exhibitions and organised research projects and conferences for UNESCO, national governments, private foundations and museums in many parts of the world.

From 2006 until March 2015 was the director general of the Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi, and since October 2015 is Director General of the Pinacoteca di Brera and the Biblioteca Braidense in Milan.

He is also one of the founders of Circles Squared, an American non-profit foundation dedicated to educational innovation in museums.

Gina Costa, GFAA Judge

Gina Costa is an art historian, museum professional, and independent curator and scholar with nearly thirty years of experience sharing her deep passion with the art world.

Currently the Director for marketing and public relations at the Snite Museum of Art, University of Notre Dame, Gina has worked at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, The Art Institute of Chicago; The Memorial Art Gallery, Rochester NY; and has taught art history at a variety of universities in the United States.

She is an internationally-known, award-winning, published mobile art photographer. Her work has been exhibited in museums and art galleries across the United States and Europe, and has been also featured on a variety of websites and publications.

Gina also serves as the Midwest board representative for the marketing and public relations committee of the American Alliance of Museums (AAM).

Raised and educated partially in Europe, Gina speaks many languages and has deep experience working with European curators and art institutions and organizations. She completed her graduate work at the University of Chicago with an MA in Italian Renaissance sculpture, although she now finds herself writing, curating, and teaching contemporary art and photography, as well as 20th century Mexican art.

Dr. Joe Martin Lin-Hill, PhD, GFAA Judge

Dr. Joe Lin-Hill is currently Deputy Director of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, New York. He received his PhD from the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University in 2013; his dissertation, Becoming Global: Contemporary Art Worlds in the Age of the Biennials Boom, completed under the direction of Robert Storr, considers the global proliferation of large-scale international contemporary art exhibitions since the mid-1980s and the impact they have had upon the contemporary art world. At the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, he has organized the large-scale exhibition Screen Play: Life in an Animated World (June – September 2015), which was the first international survey of artists’ use of animation in contemporary art.

Lin-Hill’s academic and curatorial work is directly tied to his diverse professional experience. He served on Rob Storr’s curatorial support team for the 2007 Venice Biennale, and from 2005 to 2008, he was the principal consultant to Sotheby’s New York office as the company launched the Pan-Asian contemporary art sales that internationalized the Chinese contemporary art market. Lin-Hill has also worked in the New York offices of AEA Consulting, one of the world’s leading cultural consulting firms, and with a broad range of flagship cultural institutions and funding organizations.

Lawrence M. Shindell, GFAA Advisory Board Chair

Lawrence Shindell is Chairman of ARIS Title Insurance Corporation, the title insurer to the global art industry.

Mr. Shindell is a lawyer by profession and holds licenses in a number of U.S. jurisdictions including admission to the Bar of the Supreme Court of the United States. He regularly advises, speaks and writes internationally on the legal title risks inherent in the global art and collectibles market for a range of industry stakeholders including the institutional commercial, not‐for‐profit, audit‐accountancy, legal advisory, financial services, D&O/E&O insurance and private equity and alternative asset investment fund sectors. Mr. Shindell has provided expert testimony of first‐impression in matters before the United States Tax Court on the interrelationship among legal title, valuation and tax questions involving tangible personal property.

As the chief executive of ARIS, Mr. Shindell has guided ARIS in leading the development of or in providing key support to a number of international initiatives similarly aimed at improving the integrity of the art industry and protecting cultural legacy including the Global Center of Innovation for the i2M Standards based at the University at Albany, State University of New York, the Authentication in Art initiative based at The Hague, the Netherlands, and the Artist-Endowed Foundations Initiative of the Aspen Institute.

ARIS is a U.S.‐New York‐headquartered division of NASDAQ‐traded Argo Group (AGII), an international insurance and reinsurance company.

Ann Lydecker Bunge, GFAA Advisory Board, 2016 Gala Co-Chair

Ann Lydecker Bunge is Senior Vice President at Collectrium, the leading technology platform for tangible asset management, owned by Christie’s. She advises internationally on collection management innovations and best practices, has extensive knowledge of the global art and collectibles markets. Ann works closely with family offices, private banks, trusts and estates attorneys, insurance providers, artists estates and cultural institutions.

Prior to Collectrium, she was Vice President at a UK Based international art advisory and appraisal firm, was Director of Worldwide Sales for two world class fine art storage and logistics companies owned by a top Private Equity Fund. She founded Metropolitan Art Advisors, launched artnet online auctions and helped launch three successful startups in Silicon Valley.

She received a B.A. from Simmons College in French and Art History, and Masters in Arts Administration from New York University.

Ann is on the Board of Advisors for Artists Talk on Art. She is a founding member of the Whitney Museum of American Art, a member of MoMA, ArtTable, Appraisers Association of America, The University Club and the Institute of Classical Architecture and Art.

Stefano Rabolli Pansera, Senior Director at Hauser and Wirth Gallery, is an Italian architect and curator. He studied at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, graduating with Honours in 2005.

After working at Herzog & de Meuron between 2005 and 2007, Rabolli Pansera returned to the Architectural Association to teach. He has lectured in Cagliari, Cambridge, Naples, Wuhan, Seoul, Rejkyavik and Madrid.

In 2010, Rabolli Pansera founded Beyond Entropy Ltd., a London-based not-for-profit company operating internationally at the threshold of art, architecture and geopolitics. In 2012 and 2013, he directed the Museum of Contemporary Art of Calasetta and initiated, designed and directed the Mangiabarche Gallery in Sardinia.

Beyond Entropy Africa produced “Ilha de Sao Jorge”, an itinerant video exhibition that has shown in Venice (Fondazione Giorgio Cini), Lisbon (Hangar), Milan (Hangar Bicocca) and London (ICA). It is also developing “From Hands to Mind”, a research on the new forms of Design in Portuguese speaking countries in Africa, commissioned by Experimenta in Lisbon and exhibited in XXI Triennale in Milan.

Alongside Paula Nascimento, Rabolli Pansera curated the first Angola Pavilion at the 13th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, and the Angola Pavilion at the 55th International Arts Exposition – La Biennale di Venezia, a project that won the Golden Lion for Best National Participation.

With Jonida Turani, Rabolli Pansera curated “Potential Monuments of Unrealized Futures”, the Albanian Pavilion at the 56th International Art Exposition – La Biennale di Venezia in 2014 and the Architectural Association in London in 2015.

An Aspen Junior Fellow since 2011, Rabolli Pansera is also an official member of The Council for the United States and Italy.

Rabolli Panserra is currently developing Mediter-Radio, a digital pop-up radio station that reveals and connects a network of 1037 museums along the Mediterranean coastline.

Desiree F. Moore, GFAA Advisory Board and Art Liaison Committee

Desiree F. Moore is a partner in the Chicago and Doha offices of the international law firm K&L Gates LLP. Ms. Moore is commercial litigator, with a focus on Intellectual Property, Social Media, and Art Law related matters. Ms. Moore is the founder and co-chair of the firm’s Social Media and the Law practice group, as well as the firm’s Middle East Art Law representative.

Ms. Moore has successfully represented visual artists, major Hollywood producers, international media conglomerates, theater/dance companies, and other creative industry clients, both in pre-dispute counseling and in active litigation in state and federal courts across the United States. Ms. Moore regularly writes and lectures on various legal topics, including social media and the law and the intersection of art and law.

Ms. Moore is the author of the American Bar Association bestselling book, Thrive – A New Lawyer’s Guide to Law Firm Practice. She is also an adjunct professor of practical skills training at Loyola University Chicago School of Law and has lectured at law schools throughout the United States and Qatar on best litigation practices, legal writing, and other practitioner skills.

Ms. Moore is actively involved in the Chicago and Doha offices’ Women in the Profession group and spearheads the Women’s Mastermind program, which supports the business development goals of women associates and partners.

Ms. Moore graduated from the University of California San Diego magna cum laude with a major in Psychology and a minor in Theater/Dance. In law school, Ms. Moore was the Conference Editor of the Loyola Law Journal, the Student Bar Association President, an academic tutor, and the Joan Marie Corboy Scholarship Recipient (2005). Ms. Moore speaks conversational Italian and Spanish.

Salwa Mikdadi*, GFAA Advisory Board and Art Liaison

Salwa Mikdadi, Associate Professor, Practice of Art History, NYU Abu Dhabi, specializes in the history of modern and contemporary art of the Arab world. Prior to joining the NYUAD, Mikdadi worked at Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority where she established the professional development program for museum professionals including a customized executive program (2012 – 2014) and was a lecturer at the Paris-Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi in the postgraduate program – History of Art and Museum Studies (2010-May 2014). Mikdadi was the Executive Director of the Arts and Culture Program at the Emirates Foundation in Abu Dhabi (2009-2012). She wrote the reference guide on the history of the twentieth-century art of West Asia, North Africa and Egypt for the Metropolitan Museum of Art Timeline web pages and is the editor and co-editors of several publications on the subject. She conducted research in Jordan, the West Bank, UAE, Syria and Lebanon on the governance and management of museums and art institutions. Mikdadi curated several exhibitions including the first Palestinian collateral exhibition at the Venice Biennial in 2009. She was the co-founder and director of the Cultural & Visual Arts Resource/ICWA, a non-for-profit organization dedicated to the study and exhibit of art of the Arab world in the United States (1988-2006). Mikdadi is a founding board member of the Association of Modern and Contemporary Art of the Arab world, Iran and Turkey. She received her B.A. from the American University of Beirut; and M.A. from J. F. Kennedy University

Gail Lord, GFAA Advisory Board

Gail Lord is Co-President of the international cultural planning firm Lord Cultural Resources, which has undertaken over 2200 planning and strategy assignments for cultural institutions and programs in over 55 countries.

Gail’s clients have included Museo Guggenheim Bilbao, The Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, Tate Britain and Tate Modern, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Louvre, International Center of Photography in New York, Indianapolis Museum of Art, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art in Toronto, Saadiyat Island Cultural District of Abu Dhabi, Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas, Texas, Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens in Washington, DC, the Chicago Art Institute, the Chicago Cultural Plan and its Chicago Architectural Biennial, and a number of cultural centres and foundations.

Gail’s recently co-authored and bestselling book “Cities, Museums and Soft Power” redefines soft power for the urban age and designs new roles for cultural institutions.

With her husband and business partner Barry Lord, she has co-edited four books on museum planning and strategy that are used worldwide, and co-authored “Artists, Patrons and the Public: Why Culture Changes” (2010), which focuses on the dynamism of culture in the world today.

Gail was the appointed Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters by the Minister of Culture of France (2014). She has been awarded Honorary Degree, Doctor of Letters, Faculty of Humanities and the Arts and Science Program, McMaster University in Hamilton (2016); and is a member of the UNESCO High Level Forum on Museums (2016-17). In summer 2016, she was named a Member of the Order of Canada, one of the country’s highest civilian honors, “[f]or her contributions to museum planning and management and for her work in supporting the cultural sector in Canada and abroad.”

Danielle Amato-Milligan, GFAA Advisory Board

Danielle Amato-Milligan is a non-profit advisor and philanthropic solutions expert with over twenty years of experience in nonprofit management, strategic organizational development and fundraising. She has worked with a cross-section of prominent nonprofits focusing on capacity building and organizational sustainability. She speaks frequently on philanthropy and the nonprofit sector, as well as on philanthropy and the arts and culture sector. She is currently a Senior Vice President, Practice Expert, Nonprofit Consulting with U.S. Trust based in New York City. Prior to joining U.S. Trust, for over a decade Danielle was the president and founder of a management consulting firm working with nonprofit organizations national and internationally in the areas of arts and culture, education, global human services and environmental advocacy. Previously, Danielle held leadership positions as Membership Manager, Director of Development and Director of Major Gifts for The Whitney Museum of American Art, The Queens Museum of Art, The Museum for African Art and The Brooklyn Academy of Music. She began her career as a Special Research Associate at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Danielle graduated from New York University with one of the first inter-disciplinary B.A. honors degrees in Medieval and Renaissance Studies (East & West) with minors in Italian and linguistics (designed for her by The Metropolitan Museum and NYU).

Danielle is a former Advisory Board member, and current member, of the Friends of the Uffizi Gallery a U.S. based 501(c) 3 organization created to support the ongoing restorations, maintenance and preservation of the artistic treasures in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy; a benefit committee member of The Museum of Modern Art’s (MoMA) Friends of Education Gala; a member of the Women in Development (WID) President’s Council, New York Chapter; a former Trustee (Vice Chair and Development Committee Chair) of The Medici Archive Project, also in Florence, Italy and New York, NY; and a longtime member and a former Trustee of ArtTable, Inc. Danielle has been a panelist and speaker for the MA Program in Visual Arts Administration at NYU’s Steinhardt School and for the Association of Fundraising Professionals’ annual Fund-Raising Day in New York conference.

Eleanor R. Goldhar, GFAA Advisory Board

Eleanor Goldhar is Partner at Vollmer Cultural Consultants Inc., working with both for and non-profit companies in the United States, Canada and Europe. Her portfolio includes strategic planning, development, sponsorship, and communications marketing focused on cultural institutions including performing and visual arts, cultural urban development projects and encyclopedic and fine art museums.

Recently she led the communications re-launch of the Onassis Cultural Center NY after a multi-year closure for renovation, including promotion and marketing of an inaugural festival of performing and visual arts and a season of music, philosophy, and exhibitions of contemporary art and archaeological antiquities.

Previously, Eleanor led the Global Communications Department for the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, as Deputy Director and Chief of Global Communications. Under her direction, the Guggenheim’s initiatives in New York, Berlin, Bilbao, Venice, Abu Dhabi, Helsinki, Asia, India and Brazil were consolidated into an international Guggenheim brand. Goldhar directed Global Special Projects, Media and Public Relations, Marketing, and Interactive including the web redesign, digital and social media. High-priority external organizations Goldhar collaborated with included Google, BMW, UBS, The R.H.N. Ho Family Foundation, and both the Tourism & Culture Authority and the Tourism Development Investment Corporation in Abu Dhabi.

Goldhar has served as Executive Officer, External Affairs at the 92nd Street Y; Vice President of Publicity & Corporate Relations at Livent Inc. (a TONY Award–winning producer of Broadway and touring theater productions); Director of Communications & Research at the Ontario Arts Council; and Head of Programs and Public Relations at the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto.

Educated at York University and the University of Toronto, where her doctoral work focused on theater and dramatic literature, Goldhar is an accredited member of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC), from which she received the Golden Quill Award of Excellence. Goldhar lecturers on marketing, brand development, communications, media and government relations. She is a founding member of ArtsCom representing 40 cultural organizations in New York City and is a member of many professional associations.

Bonnie Clearwater, GFAA Advisory Board

Bonnie Clearwater joined NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale as Director and Chief Curator in 2013. An influential leader who played a major role in Miami’s emergence and development as an international arts center, she is widely recognized for her curatorial vision, scholarship and record in administration, public education and community outreach.

Known for her ability to identify and nurture emerging artists, over the past two decades, she presented the first U.S. solo museum exhibitions for some of today’s most significant artists including: Daniel Arsham, Hernan Bas, Tracey Emin, Teresita Fernandez, Mark Handforth, Jonathan Meese, Albert Oehlen, Matthew Ritchie and Shinique Smith. She also curated historically important solo exhibitions of artists David Smith, Frank Stella, Roy Lichtenstein, Richard Artschwager, Malcolm Morley, Jack Pierson and Helen Frankenthaler, in addition to groundbreaking thematic exhibitions.

Ms. Clearwater has written extensively on Modern and contemporary art and is a respected scholar of Mark Rothko. She is the author of The Rothko Book (Tate Publishing/Abrams) and Mark Rothko: Works on Paper, (Hudson Hills). Other publications include: Tracey Emin: Angel Without You (contributing writer) (Rizzoli); Edward Ruscha: Words Without Thoughts Never to Heaven Go, (Abrams); Roy Lichtenstein: Inside/Outside and Frank Stella at 2000: Changing the Rules (both for MOCA, North Miami); editor/contributing author of West Coast Duchamp (Grassfield Press) and Ana Mendieta: A Book of Works (Grassfield Press), among other titles.

From 1997 – 2013, she was the Executive Director and Chief Curator of the Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami where she developed an internationally renowned exhibition program and guided the museum’s education program.

She has an M.A. in art history from Columbia University and a B.A. in art history from New York University.

Gina Quan, GFAA Advisory Board and Art Liaison Committee

Gina Quan is a passionate art collector and the Asian Director for Gerber Stauffer Fine Arts, the Zurich-based fine art advisory firm serving collectors and institutions on collection strategy and private sales of Modern and established contemporary art.

With a formal academic and professional background in the investment banking and business sector in the UK, Gina developed passion for fine art as a young collector of artworks by both emerging and established contemporary artists, and further attended courses on Art History at Courtauld Institute of Art, London.

Born in China, Gina was educated and lived for 15 years in the UK, Gina now lives and works between China, Switzerland and the UK. She closely engages with art collectors on consulting, collection strategies, acquisitions and private sale mandates, while maintaining an international network of gallerists, curators and institution professionals from Asia, Europe and the US.

Gina holds BSc in Investment Banking from University of Reading and MSc in Investment Management from CASS Business School, City University of London, UK.

David M. Kraemer, GFAA Advisory Board

David Kraemer, a senior investment professional and fiduciary, has twenty years of strategic business development and investment advisory experience working with ultra-high-net worth families, alternative investment funds, small and middle-market companies, foundation, endowment and other institutional investors.

Prior to founding 10 | 2 Capital Partners, LLC, a boutique capital raising, due-diligence, and marketing firm for private market investment, David spent eleven years in New York, NY as a Vice President and Senior Financial Advisor within Merrill Lynch’s Global Private Wealth Group. He also spent six years as Vice President of Strategic Business Development (national focus) for the Institutional Investment Consulting and Outsourced-CIO (OCIO) business unit of Wilshire Associates, along with driving new business growth for the Wilshire Compass ® investment technology product. David also served as a Consultant with TIAA-CREF for over three years focusing primarily on wealth management and institutional investment services for individuals and organizations within the academic, medical and research communities.

David earned a B.A. degree in English / Pre-Law and Economics from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He also holds the FINRA Series 7 and 66 Licenses, and is a Candidate for the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) designation.

Stephen J. Kimmerling, Esq., GFAA Advisory Board

Stephen J. Kimmerling works for Crowell & Moring LLP, an international law firm, in both their Cuba practice and in business development. An attorney by background, Stephen’s experience includes Latin America, with an emphasis on Cuba, as well as communications and program development. He is on the board of directors of the Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy (ASCE), where he has been a member since 1998. Stephen has been involved in U.S.-Cuba issues for over 20 years and has produced numerous educational conferences, authored papers, and engaged in public speaking on legal and other aspects of U.S.-Cuba relations.

Prior professional roles include serving Senator Bob Kerrey as Director of Public Programming in the Office of the President at the New School. In that position, he developed high-level programs focused on leading global and domestic affairs and featuring top political, cultural, and intellectual figures. He was Co-Director of the Department of Conference Programming for the Direct Marketing Association, a 4,000-member international trade association, where he created and managed their U.S. and Latin America conferences. Mr. Kimmerling also served the New York University School of Law as Cuba Conferences Director, where he designed and organized conferences on U.S.-Cuba relations and Cuban affairs. He holds a J.D. from the New York University School of Law and is admitted to the bar in New York, New Jersey, and Florida. He is fluent in Spanish.

Christian Gaines, GFAA Advisory Board

Christian Gaines is a film and arts professional with over two decades of experience in staff management, fundraising, business development, marketing, publicity, sponsorship fulfillment and activation, film programming.

Born in Belgium to American parents, Christian was educated in the UK before attending Vassar College.

Currently, Christian is Executive Director of ArtPrize, the largest annual art event in the world (over 400,000 attendees), based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. ArtPrize is an international art competition, open to any artist, with awards and prizes decided by both public and juried vote. The event features 1,500 artists at 150 venues.

Previously, Christian developed innovative initiatives at some of the most prestigious Film Festivals in the world, including Cannes and Sundance. He launched and directed the American Pavilion at the Cannes Film Festival for six years, and subsequently became the first Director of New Media for the Sundance Film Festival.

Danny Gonzalez, GFAA Website Designer

Originally from Guatemala, now based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Danny Gonzalez is Owner of Datasys, a Marketing Consultancy company.

With more than 20 years of experience, his marketing and consulting skills are focused on business processes, database development, internet and social media tools and solutions.

Gonzalez works across multiple industries including travel, health and wellness, telecommunications, non-profits and the Government.

He also teaches web development at the Palm Beach Code School, and and works pro bono as Marketing Director for the non-profit, Speaking Hands.

Gonzalez holds a BA in Construction Engineering Technology from the University of Arkansas. He began his experience with web development at the University of Arkansas where he developed an internet interactive map of his birth country, which became part of Microsoft’s former Encarta Encyclopedia as the cultural web-source for Guatemala.

A former ranked tennis player in both collegiate and professional circuits, Gonzalez is also fluent in four languages- Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and English.

Renee Farina, GFAA Art Research Committee

Renee Farina holds a Master’s degree in History of Art and History of the Art Market; Modern and Contemporary Art from Christie’s.

She received her BA in History of Art focusing on Roman History and Italian Medieval and Renaissance Art from Indiana University, Bloomington. Ms. Farina presented her Thesis on Botticelli’s Mystic Nativity and competed for an academic scholarship (Menz Award).

In Christie’s Wine Department, she was involved in sales, warehouse inventory, photography for catalogues, phone bidding, and wine connoisseurship. She completed three major projects: South and Central American Market Research, International Price Analysis, Proposal for Sales. Ms. Farina also worked in Christie’s Old Masters Department, where she worked on cataloguing, condition reports, research, photography, catalogue essay writing and inventory.

She is trilingual: Italian, Spanish and English. While at Christie’s, she translated manuscripts, served as a translator with Italian and Spanish speaker clients, translated simultaneously during meetings, and assisted with multi-lingual phone calls during auctions.

Her background also includes gallery experience; she managed the Ca D’Oro Gallery in Miami; responsibilities including installations in NYC and Miami, exhibition curation, art fair organization and logistics. In 2014, she opened Gallery Farina in Wynwood, which she recently sold.

Betsie Piussan, GFAA Nominating Committee Chair

A native of New York, Betsie Piussan received a B.S. Degree from Stanford University, Stanford, CA in social sciences and second concentration in French. She also studied at l’Université de Paris and l’Ecole du Louvre.

She completed her MBA at NYU Graduate School of Business. After graduating, she worked for nine years at Republic National Bank of New York, specializing in international lending.

Mrs. Piussan subsequently founded her interior design firm, Bremer Designs, after earning a Design Certificate from New York School of Interior Design. She specializes in renovations in NYC, Westchester, Connecticut and The Hamptons.

A long-time resident of Manhattan, Mrs. Piussan currently resides in Miami Beach with her French husband and children.

Nancy Richmond, GFAA Chair Social Media

Dr. Nancy Richmond is a professor, social media consultant and scholar. Her passion is empowering businesses and organizations in effectively leveraging social media. She greatly enjoys speaking and consulting nationally and internationally to help groups meet their social media and marketing goals.

Nancy has worked with leading organizations including MIT, Harvard University, University of Miami, Campbell Soup Company, NBC 6/Telemundo and National Association of Colleges and Employers.

Dr. Richmond, whose doctorate was entitled “Digital ethnography: understanding faculty use of an online community of practice for professional development,” is a professor at Florida International University’s College of Business.

Currently teaching social media, marketing and personal branding courses, Dr. Richmond has a contagious enthusiasm for research in social media. She is a futuristic thinker inspired by what “could be” and solving problems.

Ivonn Goihman, GFAA Gala Co-Chair (2014 and 2015)

An expert in the international real estate market in Miami, Ivonn Goihman combines her passion for art with a strong knowledge of the global art trends and pulse in Miami.

Originally from Colombia, Ivonn resides with her family in Miami, while maintaining strong ties to Latin America.

She and her husband are avid collectors of contemporary art, and previously owned a gallery in Coral Gables.

Tiffany Chestler, GFAA Advisory Board

Tiffany Chestler, a native of Miami, is the Director of Cultural Programming at DACRA. Ms. Chestler creates unique programming for the Miami Design District, working closely with emerging artists, performers, curators and cultural institutions to program content that is consistent with company mission and goals. She is responsible for vetting and coordinating all the art exhibitions that come to the Design District as part of the annual Art Basel Miami Beach program.

In addition she also oversees the placement of art work from the Craig Robins art collection in a variety of Dacra properties and produces full scale exhibitions year round.

Prior to joining DACRA in 2002, she was Project Manager at Curator, Inc., a small contemporary art consulting company. She was responsible for overseeing logistical aspects of various company projects such as Art purchases- arranging telephone or in-person auction bids; Shipment of artwork; writing educational brochures; assembling exhibition proposal packages; Co-curating exhibitions, included writing press releases and curatorial research.

Ms. Chestler received her bachelor’s degree from Florida International University (FIU).

Peter Hansen, GFAA Advisory Board

Peter J. C. Hansen is an aficionado of contemporary art, on the board of the friends of Museum Villa Stuck in Munich, a lawyer in investment banking and an art collector.

He travels the world on an art schedule and calendar. Born and raised in Munich, Germany he was partly educated in the UK and also lived and worked there.

As a student, Peter began collecting works by artists from Germany, which he continues to this day.

In 2012, he organized a successful charity auction for Museum Villa Stuck for its 20th anniversary as a municipal museum in which 20 contemporary artists (including Mel Ramos, Yoko Ono, Andrei Molodkin and Jan Davidoff) donated pieces auctioned by Sotheby’s.

Patricia Lannes, GFAA Advisory Board and Art Liaison Committee

Patricia Lannes has worked in the fields of visual literacy and museum education for over 20 years. She is the Founder and Project Director of CALTA21 (Cultures and Literacies through Art for the 21st Century,) a model initiative funded by a National Leadership grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. As Project Director, she leads all aspects of the initiative from conception to completion. CALTA21 invites adult immigrants and their families to use works of art and museums to break language barriers and build academic, social, and cultural capital.

Prior to her work as Project Director of CALTA21, she was Director of Education at the Nassau County Museum of Art, and worked as an independent consultant to museums, NY school districts, institutions of higher education, and private arts organizations.

A native of Uruguay, she is the Chairperson of the Latino Network, a professional interest committee of the American Alliance of Museums (AAM).

Ty Murphy, GFAA Advisory Board, UK Chair

Ty is a Family Office advisor and consultant. He is the Publisher of Family Office Elite Magazine (a GFAA media partner and sponsor) and also of his latest endeavour, Art & Museums Magazine. Ty has many other business interests including in DOMOS Fine Art which sources Picasso art for Family Office clients. His non-profit work includes work with BAFTA where he sat on the management committee for two years. He also founded UFFO the Universal Film & Festival Organization which promotes best business practices to the industry, UFFO has 240 Film Festival members.

Terence Riley, GFAA Advisory Board and Nominating Committee

As an architect, museum professional, teacher, and critic, Terence Riley is an internationally recognized leader in the design and development of cultural facilities and programs with great architectural significance worldwide.

Riley has played a lead role in the architect selection and design processes for the renovation and expansion of The Museum of Modern Art (New York), the Miami Art Museum, and the Museum of Art, Design and the Environment (Murcia, Spain).

In addition, Riley has served on international juries for numerous important projects, including the Reina Sofia National Museum (Madrid), the 9/11 Memorial at the Pentagon (Washington DC), and the Museum of Latin American Art (Buenos Aires).

Riley is a founding partner of K/R (Keenen/Riley, 1984), an architectural studio well known for its designs for art museums, galleries, artists, and collectors.

Riley studied architecture at the University of Notre Dame and Columbia University and is a licensed architect, certified nationally by the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards.

An acclaimed author and contributor to journals and other publications on design, he lectures frequently and has taught at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design and at numerous other architecture schools.

Hedva Ser’s body of internationally recognized work includes tapestries, watercolors, and jewelry, but she is best known for her powerful sculptures. Ms. Ser’s monumental bronzes have become symbols of peace, tolerance, and intercultural outreach around the world.

Hedva Ser is one of Europe’s pioneers using art in the goal of creating social progress. Over the years, her work has provided focus and physical connection to her efforts to build peace through art.

Ms. Ser is the recipient of the prestigious Legion d’Honneur and the Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres awarded by the French government.

In 2011, UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, similarly honored Hedva Ser, naming her a UNESCO Artist for Peace.

Hedva speaks through her art with an eloquence that has placed her among the rare artists that has successfully brought people together to reflect and discuss some of the most difficult issues of our times, and continues to use her art to transmit the message of peace to new generations.

Through her exhibitions all over the world, Ms. Ser has placed her art at the service of peace, of which her monumental sculpture, ‘Tree of Peace,’ has become an emblem.

Juan Carlos Zaldivar, GFAA Advisory Board, Video Editor

Cuban-born, Zaldívar lives and works in the United States. He completed both his BFA and a Masters of Fine Arts at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, where he has also taught as an adjunct faculty. He has also taught as full-time faculty at Miami International University’s Institute of Art and Design.

Zaldívar started his film career as a sound editor and designer, his work can be heard in Academy Nominated films such as Ang Lee’s “Sense and Sensibility;” “On the ropes” and on HBO’s America Undercover, for which he garnered an Emmy nomination.

His film and video art works have screened at many festivals worldwide and broadcast on PBS, ABC, IFC, Showtime and WE. He is the recipient of numerous grants and awards. His directing credits include “90 Miles” (PBS), “The Story of the Red Rose” (Showtime), “Palingenesis” and “Soldiers Pay” (IFC), co-directed with David O. Russell (Three Kings, The Fighter) and Tricia Regan (Autism, the musical).

He has served as a Juror for several major film festivals including the Sundance International Film Festival. He is a Sundance Film Institute alumnus. He has recently co-founded the Miami Filmmakers Collective with a generous grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation Art Challenge grant and a matching grant from the Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs.

Gernot Schussmann, GFAA Advisory Board

Gernot Schussmann is an international entrepreneur, art ambassador and collector.
Born and raised in Germany, Gernot was educated in London and finished his studies of International Marketing at Greenwich University London. He currently resides near Munich.
Aside from running a multitude of companies he also works as a consultant, specialised on discreet behind the scene advisory work for museums and private collections.
He is also a passionate art collector and on the board of several museums in Europe including Villa Stuck in Munich.

Alexander Wuchterl, GFAA Advisory Board

German born Alexander Wuchterl works as an Art Director and set artist for national and international fashion brands, interior design magazines and commercials around the globe.
Among his clients are important fashion houses including Hermes and Armani, as well as major media groups.

Additionally, his work includes interior design, art curation and placement for private clientele, corporations and public spaces.

He is a private art collector and supporter of several European museums such as MdM Salzburg and Villa Stuck Munich.

On his travels around the globe he collects minimal art and artefacts that inspire his works.

Alexander studied architecture and industrial design in Munich and Bologna, speaks several languages and
resides on a country estate in higher Bavaria.

Hogan Fritz, GFAA Video Production

Artistic producer, enthusiast and social media aficionado, Hogan Fritz lives in New York City where he attends Marymount Manhattan College, pursuing his Bachelor of Arts in Communication Studies with a minor in Journalism.

Aside from his studies, he works professionally in theatre and film and has been awarded several accolades including Finalist at the International Youth Silent Film Festival and the ACMY Theatre Awards. He currently works during the summer at the Columbia Gorge School of Theatre located at Lewis and Clark College in Portland where he is the Lead Social Media Coordinator and a Camp Counselor. Hogan’s world revolves around the arts and he takes pride in his passion for the universal appreciation and strive for a global artistic connection.

Hogan’s brother Truman created and produced most of the music for the GFAA Finalist videos. Truman Fritz is a music producer in the Portland, Oregon area. His music was featured in the awards trailers with such tracks as “assassination.wav”, “reverse.wav”, and more. SoundCloud under his DJ alias HExEN.

Felipe Gehrke, GFAA Creative and Art Direction

Brazilian native Felipe Gehrke is a Marketing Analyst with international experience in the creative and marketing world across three continents.

Felipe received a Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Design from the Catholic University in Rio de Janeiro in 2009 and has worked as a creative and marketing analyst since then, with experiences at Coca-Cola, Sapient Nitro Miami and Ogilvy Paris.

His most recent academic achievement was graduating from Miami Ad School at the end of 2013 as an Art Director, a two-year program which was based in Miami with practical training and studying abroad.

Felipe is the winner of the 2015 GFAA new logo global contest, and has contributed significantly to the rebranding initiatives of the GFAA program.

Jenna Agres, GFAA Graphic Design

Jenna Agres is a student studying in the heart of Miami’s Design District at DASH, Design and Architecture Senior High. She is always inspired by her surroundings in this beautifully unique area.

She is currently studying graphic design and visual communications. Aspiring to incorporate her passion for design in a future career, joining the Global Fine Art Awards team as the Graphic Design Intern has been a very beneficial and rewarding experience.

Jenna enjoys the process of ideas, as well as incorporating a strong layout, aesthetically pleasing color scheme, and trending typography in her work.

Aside from design, Jenna loves experimenting with new media and techniques, such as darkroom photography, India ink, and book binding.

Stephanie is a third year History of Art (BA) student at University College London (UCL), with a passion for the arts and an aspiration to widen its access in society.

Enthusiastic about research in modern and contemporary art, she has interned at the Asian Contemporary Art Department in Sotheby’s and the Impressionist and Modern Art Department at Christie’s (Hong Kong offices), assisting with catalogue research and translation.

During her time as a research intern at Asia Art Archive, a non-profit organisation that collects and makes information on the history of contemporary art in Asia, she contributed to the research projects ‘Talkover/Handover’ and ‘Hong Kong Performance Art’.

Her background also includes gallery experience, volunteering at the British Museum and art fairs. She is native in Cantonese and fluent in English and Mandarin.

Dahee Lim, 2016 GFAA Art Research, Marketing and PR Intern

Dahee is a third year History of Art (BA) student at University College London (UCL), with a passion for the arts, and a particular eye for photography and photo editing.

She is fascinated by the variety of perspectives in viewing art and tries to link art historical methodologies to develop an original perspective. In this respect, the vision of the world through camera lens, for Dahee, is an intriguing way of seeing.

Her previous experiences includes working for English Heritage in Kenwood House. Also, her volunteering experiences in Brack magazine and Marine Tanguy Art widened her scope on global and historical views on the contemporary art world.

Originally from Korea, Dahee spent her high school years studying in New Zealand, and aspires to move the U.S.A. in the future. She is fluent in English and Korean.